


Battle Scars

by shutupmulder



Category: Mission: Impossible, Mission: Impossible (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-09
Updated: 2019-04-09
Packaged: 2020-01-07 11:27:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18409703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shutupmulder/pseuds/shutupmulder
Summary: Ilsa and Ethan learn more about each other's scars.





	Battle Scars

Ethan did not know when he fell in love with Ilsa Faust, but he knew it was a long time before they finally became a couple. It was only a few weeks ago that they admitted their feelings for each other and yet it felt like they had been together for years. From the beginning, there had been an unspoken trust between them, and their bond had been incredibly strong. That bond had only deepened when Ilsa became a part of the IMF and it just felt  _ right _ between them.

Like they were meant to be. 

In the aftermath of a very good morning love-making session, (they had finally gotten two days off) Ethan lay on his stomach, his head resting on his hands and facing Ilsa who was still trying to catch her breath. 

As their breathing returned to normal, they looked at each other and they didn’t need words to express what they were feeling. 

With a soft laugh, Ilsa moved and stretched out on her stomach on top of Ethan, pressing light kisses to his back.

Sighing, Ethan closed his eyes as her warm mouth explored the back of his neck before placing a light kiss to his cheek. 

Underneath him, he felt her hand take a hold of his left, bringing it up to eye level for both of them, their joined hands resting on the pillow. 

She turned the palm of his hand downwards before her index finger gently started tracing the scar on top of his hand. He did not need to see her face to know that she had turned more serious, he sensed it in her body language and by how quiet she had become. 

Ethan realised what she was doing. 

They hadn’t talked about this part yet. Ethan had seen many of her scars, traced some of them with his fingertips when he knew she was asleep. He had not dared to bring it up, though, in case she would not want to talk about it. 

Her finger traced the scarred line that followed down to his own index finger before tracing his middle finger as well. 

”I can’t feel that.” He murmured when she got to his ring finger and she stopped for a second before she moved to his pinky. 

”Only the ring finger?” She asked, gently pulling his hand up so she could press a kiss to his knuckles. 

”Mm.” 

Their gazes lingered a few more seconds on Ethan’s scarred hand before Ilsa spoke lowly, ”That must have hurt.” 

”Yes.” He paused for a second, ”The entire hand was crushed. Took me long to recover completely, but I still have a hard time flexing this finger,” Ethan slowly bent his index finger and Ilsa watched as it stopped little over halfway of how far a normal person would be able to bend it.

”I’m sorry to hear that.” 

Ethan turned his head slightly so that their lips could meet in a chaste kiss.

”The guys who did it were worse off, though. I think I taught them a lesson not to smash someone’s hand with a hammer again.” 

Ilsa winced slightly at the thought of someone crushing Ethan’s hand with a hammer. She would very much like to have a chat with those people as well.

”Good.” 

Noticing her slight discomfort at his words, Ethan took a hold of her hand now and placed a gentle kiss to it before turning his head with an encouraging smile. ”Should we make some breakfast?” 

Returning the smile, her lips met his once more, this kiss a longer and deeper than before. ”Sounds perfect.”

 

—-

 

Little over two weeks had passed since the conversation about the scars and since then the two agents had been busy, being sent away on several missions around the world. 

Thankfully, no one had drawn any serious injuries to themselves and Ethan was more than happy to be back at his apartment. Not alone, of course.

Waking up early was a routine for Ethan, and while it usually was the same for Ilsa, occasionally she managed to sleep in. Ethan decided he loved those mornings. 

The sun’s beams were too bright for the curtains and he enjoyed the way the sunlight lit the side of her face and the back of her neck. Sitting up against the headboard, he resisted the urge to run his fingers through her hair, afraid the act would wake her up. 

Ilsa was sleeping peacefully on her stomach, the cover resting just above her shoulder blades. The sound of her slow but steady breathing was like soothing balm for his soul. So often they were running or driving around, chasing criminals without a single break. He truly loved these small moments of tranquillity.

A sigh escaped Ilsa’s mouth as she shifted slightly and stretched her limbs. Ethan smiled to himself, those were the first telltale signs that she was waking up. As she stretched her legs she managed to move the cover lower as well and it rested just above the curve of her ass. 

Ethan’s eyes turned to the newly revealed skin and he let out a deep breath as his gaze fixed upon the several long scars on her back. To be honest, he was curious about all of her scars, but these ones were on top of the list. He had a good idea about how she received the scars, but it was one thing thinking about it and another finding out the truth behind it. 

He was in a great dilemma as well - while he was curious to know more about the scars, at the same time he was also afraid of finding out.

His fingers had a mind of their own and as he dwelled in his thoughts, he lightly traced one of the pale lines on her back. Ilsa sighed again, blinking a few times before fixing her gaze on him.

”Morning.” She murmured and her morning voice made his heart skip a beat. She truly had him under her spell. 

”Good morning.” He returned with a small smile before his eyes turned towards her back again and his fingers found another scar on her back to trace. 

He did not need to look at her again to know that she had realised what he was doing. Her body tensed for a moment, and she took a deep breath before relaxing again. 

”I’m all yours.” She tried in a playful tone, but he heard the seriousness behind it as well. She was going to tell him about the scars and he swallowed at the thought.

”How did you get these?” His fingers traced yet another one of the scars and Ilsa propped herself up on her hands to get a better look at him. 

”I take it you have an idea of how I got them, am I right?” She answered with a raise of an eyebrow. 

”Yes. I was hoping you would prove me wrong, however.” 

”I wasn’t whipped if that was what you were thinking.” 

“Well, I must say the thought crossed my mind. And not that I know yet what happened, but I must say I’m a bit relieved to hear that.” He gave her a small smile. 

“I thought so. You’re not the only person to think of that, by the way.” She took a deep breath. “Actually, I did not get all of the scars on the same day, even if they do look quite similar. I got most of them when I fell down a mountain.” 

“A mountain?” Ethan asked, furrowing his brows. 

“Yeah. The rain was pouring and we were climbing up a very rocky mount when we were ambushed. I was shot in the leg and lost my footing. I must have fallen at least 70 meters and my back took most of the damage. It was pretty messy but it could have been worse. I only hit one tree and apart from practically my whole body scraped, the only serious injuries I suffered were four broken ribs, a broken wrist and a mild concussion.”

“Jesus.” He mumbled, removing his hand from her back. 

She sat up to face him and gave him a small smile. ”It’s fine. It was a long time ago.” He waited patiently for her to continue.  

“Two of the scars, the tiny ones on my lower back, I got the day we arrested Lane for the first time.” 

“Vinter.” Ethan stated. 

“Yes. It’s weird, actually, I seem to have a habit of getting into knife fights because another scar on my back is also from a knife. And I have at least three other scars that are from knife fights as well.” She huffed a laugh and shook her head slightly as if she had not realised that before. 

“Remind me not to get in a knife fight with you.” Ethan tried jokingly, but by the look on his face and the tone of his voice, she knew he was affected by the stories of her scars. 

“It’s okay, Ethan. I’m okay.” She smiled encouragingly.

“Of course you are.” He spoke, returning the smile. 

She knew him so well and what he needed and when she opened her arms, he gladly welcomed her embrace. They sat in silence for a few moments, holding each other. 

She pulled back after a while, giving him one of his favourite smiles, the one with a mix between mystery and smug. “I’m almost more pissed about the fact that I can’t really wear a bikini in public anymore, than the actual events leading up to the scars.” 

“Yeah, I bet you look terrible in them now.” Ethan deadpanned, earning a laugh from her and he chuckled as well. 

“God, I love you.” He said, his hands resting on either side of her face and his green eyes staring deep into hers. 

His intense gaze made her swallow and she felt a warm, familiar tingling in her stomach. Laying a hand over his, with a happy smile on her face she replied, “I love you, too, baby.”  

 

**Author's Note:**

> I've been wanting to write a fic about this since the very beginning when I started writing fic, but the inspiration never really came to me. However, yesterday it suddenly did and I hope you like it :)
> 
> (Oh, and in case you recognized it, I totally stole a line from Captain America: The Winter Soldier, when Natasha shows Steve her scar and saying "Byebye bikini's" with his reply "I bet you look terrible in them now"). It's such a good scene. And another ship of mine. Okay, bye. Haha)


End file.
